Marching in Place

As protests go on this so-called Day of Action, it was pretty mellow: Beginning at around noon today, fewer than 200 people walked around in a circle in front of Occidental Tower, home of Senator John Cornyn's office. Farmers Branch laid on about 25 extra cops, but they had little to do except stand between the marchers and three docile counterprotestors. The bullhorn-toting organizers led by ACORN and Domingo Garcia briefly stopped the circular shuffle to get everybody to call Cornyn's office in unison, a brilliant plan diabolically thwarted by a busy signal.

The TV reporters were gnashing their impeccably white crowns in frustration--until Renea Walker saved the day. The frosted blonde from Plano responded to the cry, "We are all immigrants," with a shout of her own from the midst of the throng: "But not all of us are illegal!" Walker was quickly drowned out by the bullhorns, but not before about 20 cameras recorded her trenchant take on the immigration debate: "I'm just angry." (I think I saw a Univision crew slipping her a 20 in gratitude a few minutes later.)

Meanwhile, the march at Cornyn's office goes on. The main events are slated for 4:30 p.m. today: a rally at Dallas City Hall and a student gathering in Kiest Park. --Rick Kennedy